“What about the apartment? I own half of that, right?” I ask, desperate to have something from all the years of work I’ve done.
“No. It’s in his name and it’s been re-mortgaged. He owns nothing but the clothes on his back.”
“What the fuck? I signed the paperwork for that flat. We bought it together,” I shout, starting to get angry.
“I can’t find any paperwork that shows that, and trust me, I’ve looked.”
“So basically, you’re telling me that I’m entitled to half of what’s in our apartment and that’s it?”
“Yes, but—”
A thought pops into my head and things suddenly start to make sense.
“I tried to rent a flat here but I got turned down because of something with my credit score. He’s been using my name, hasn’t he?”
“Yes. It seems he’s taken out loans in your name and defaulted on the payments.”
“Fuck.” I fall back onto my makeshift bed as everything I thought I could build over here evaporates into thin air. I’ve got nothing but the few thousand in my own bank account. It’s not enough to start a new life here, let alone start a business.
“I’m so sorry, Addison,” Sarah repeats. “I know it won’t help, but Edward’s distraught.”
“Embarrassed and humiliated, more like.” Suddenly, all his begging for me to stay when I told him I was leaving makes sense. He never wanted me to stay to work on our relationship; he knew that me divorcing him would uncover his dirty secret. Bastard.
“He’s said your job’s open should you want it back. He’s aware of the position this has left you in and wants to offer you a lifeline.”
Sarah says a few other things to me before hanging up, but I don’t hear them. Everything’s crashing down around me once again and it drowns her out.
I’ve got to go back. I need money and I have a job there that pays well. I’d be stupid to turn it down. I could stay for a year or two, save as much as possible, then come back here to continue what I’ve started.
The sight of the logo Cara did for me on the sideboard catches my eye and my first tear falls. Just when I think I have everything together, that motherfucker screws me over again. The thought of leaving here breaks my heart way worse than he did. This is my home; it’s where I’m meant to be, but once again I’m being forced away from it.
I finish what’s left of my cold coffee before dragging my sorry arse into the shower. My reflection catches my eye and it brings back last night. My lipstick is smeared over my face, my eyes are rimmed with make up, and my hair’s a mess.
I chastise myself for even allowing thoughts of Blake to enter my head. What’s the point in thinking about not wanting to leave him when that’s exactly what he did to me at some point in the night?
By the time Aunt Addy appears just over an hour later, my mind is made up.
“Did you have a good night, sweetheart?” she asks with a wink. “I heard Blake come in at some ungodly hour.” She must see my distress written all over my face. “What’s wrong?”
I tell her everything—well, apart from what happened right here on her table last night. I made a point of cleaning that after my shower. Twice.
“You don’t have to go back. I can help you.”
“No. I need to do this myself.”
“Please don’t go. I’m going to really miss you. Blake and Sinead will too.”
“I’ll come back; I just need to get everything together,” I say, ignoring the bit about Blake and Sinead that makes my heart hurt.
Aunt Addy pulls me into a hug. I can tell she’s trying to keep herself together because she’s trembling. I feel awful.
“Let’s go out and do something today,” I say, in the hope of cheering her up a little. I don’t mention that it’s the last chance we have because I’ve already booked a flight for this evening.
“Okay.”
The day goes by all too quickly and before I know it, Aunt Addy is driving me towards the airport. Annoyingly, she has spent a good part of our last hours together staring at her phone. I get annoyed at myself for being irritated by it, because Aunt Addy has a life she can’t just stop because I’ve decided to uproot once again.
“Are you sure you don’t want to wait and say goodbye to Blake and Sinead before you go?” she asks me for the millionth time.
“I’ll call them when I get to London,” I promise.
I haven’t heard anything from him all day, so I can only assume what that means, and I’m not coming up with anything good. Surely if he saw anything worthwhile in last night then he would’ve at least been in touch today?
I’m doing the right thing, I repeat over and over, trying to convince my heart and get it to fall in line with my head.
“We’re here,” Aunt Addy says, and when I pull myself from my daydream—or nightmare, depending on how you look at it—I see that we’re in the drop off car park outside Belfast airport.
My heart drops when I look at the departures sign and other passengers with their luggage, most of whom are looking a lot more excited than I’m feeling about the journey ahead of me.
Aunt Addy parks so she can come with me to check in. I go through all the motions of handing over my passport and ticket, but it’s like I’m not really there. I’m heading back to a life that I hated all because my ex-husband is a bigger wanker than I thought the first time I was in this airport. Not only has he betrayed me, but he’s left me with nothing other than a few pieces of furniture.
“You don’t have to do this, Addison. We can figure it out. I have money you can borrow to get your business started.”
I refuse her offer like I have done all day. I don’t want Aunt Addy’s money. I don’t want anyone’s money other than what I’ve earnt myself.
I look up to the security check ahead and let out a huge breath. This is not what I expected when I came back to Ireland a few weeks ago. I had this whole plan laid out; returning to London so quickly was not one of them.
“I need to go. Thank you so much for everything. I promise I’ll be in touch and I’ll be back in no time.”
I pull her in for a hug. When I let go, the sight of her trembling chin breaks me. My first tear drops and she reaches out to wipe it off my cheek.
“I love you, sweetheart,” she whispers, and I take the opportunity to turn and walk away. There’s no chance I can say it back without falling apart.
I’m next in line and just about to put my bag on the conveyor belt when I hear it.
“ADDISON!”
Thinking I’m imagining things, I take another step forward and smile sadly at the woman working the scanner when I hear it again.
“ADDISON!”
Only it’s louder this time, and I’m pretty sure I’m not hearing things.
I turn around to see an image I would’ve sworn only happens in films.
Running towards me, with Sinead being pulled along behind him, is Blake. He looks harassed with wide, panicked eyes—eyes that are locked on me.
I reach out and grab the bag I’d just placed down before taking a step and leaving my place in the line. By this time, Aunt Addy has Sinead and Blake’s slowed to a fast walk as he approaches me.
“Don’t go,” he pants out.
“What?”
“Please, don’t go.”
“It’s too late. I have to.”
“No you don’t. We can make it work.”
“I have nothing, Blake. I can’t make anything work with nothing.”
“You don’t have nothing. You have us,” he says, gesturing to our smiling two person audience.
“That’s not what I meant.”
“Anything else is meaningless, as long as you have people who love you. You can earn money, you can buy new things. You can’t replace people—trust me, I know. And you can’t get time back, not matter how hard you wish for it.”
I break my eyes from his pleading ones and look up to the ceiling, trying to process my thoughts. “I thought you’d left,” I whisper.
<
br /> “What?”
“This morning, you’d just gone. I thought—”
“What? NO! I wanted to be home before Sinead woke up so she wouldn’t question me not being there, and then she had a gymnastics competition all day and I’ve had no signal. I only got Addy’s messages an hour ago and we rushed straight here. I left a note, didn’t you see it?”
I didn’t realise I was holding on to my breath until it all comes out of me in a rush and I start laughing at how ridiculous all of this is.
“What’s so funny?”
“This. All of this.” I gesture to the movie scene we’re currently acting out.
Blake doesn’t seem to share my amusement. Instead, he continues to stare into my eyes, his face serious. “So what do you say?”
I look at him for a long time before looking over his shoulder at Aunt Addy and Sinead. Then it hits me.
Everything Blake just said is right.
This is my home, they’re my family, and time is precious.
I think it’s time to make a new plan.
Ruined By Lies
Ruined #2
I thought I’d left all the lies behind me.
My plan is beginning to fall into place. I’ve been given an opportunity I could only dream of, and things between Blake and me are pretty unbelievable. I had no idea I was missing out on so much with my ex. Everything seems too good to be true. But is the arrival of an unwanted visitor is the beginning of my luck running out?
CLICK HERE to continue reading the Ruined series.
Acknowledgments
I can’t believe I’m at the end of the first part of Addison and Blake’s story already. I have loved these two and I’m so excited to keep going and find out where their story is going to take me.
The most important person I have to thank is Nicole, because without the opportunity she opened up to me, this story never would’ve happened, and I am SO happy it has because I have loved writing it. I’ve been able to work with some incredible romance authors while writing this story, and I just want to say thank you for having me on this incredible journey with you.
As always, my amazing beta readers—Deanna, Helen, Lindsay, Michelle and Tracy—thank you for being awesome, honest and just as excited as me about my characters and what’s to come.
A huge thank you to every blogger, reader and author who has shared this release. It means the world to me that you continue to support me. I couldn’t do any of this without you.
Last but not least, thank you to my incredible husband and amazing little girl for supporting me with all of this and for believing in me. I love you both so much.
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About the Author
Tracy Lorraine is a M/F and M/M contemporary romance author. Tracy has just turned thirty and lives in a cute Cotswold village in England with her husband, baby girl and lovable but slightly crazy dog. Having always been a bookaholic with her head stuck in her Kindle Tracy decided to try her hand at a story idea she dreamt up and hasn’t looked back since.
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Also by Tracy Lorraine
Angel Series
Molly - part one #1
Molly - part two #1
Abbi #1.5
Beth #1.6
Emma #2
Connie #2.5
Lilly #3
Taylor #3.5
Nicole #4 coming soon
Chasing Series
Chasing Logan
Ruined Series
Ruined Plans #1
Ruined by Lies #2
Ruined Promises #3
Never Forget Series
Never Forget Him #1
Never Forget Us #2
Everywhere & Nowhere #3
The Cocktail Girls
His Manhattan
Ruined Plans Page 9